


Permutations on a Theme (When the Past Becomes the Future)

by Kila9Nishika



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: DOFP spoilers, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Happy Ending, Looking at you Katherine, Lots and lots of offscreen implied story, M/M, Multi, NOT noncon, Sort of fix it anyway, Time is confusing, Warning for (Not very overt Sexual) Harrassment, You shouldn't mess with time if you don't have a PhD or seven in Temporal Physics, wibbly wobbly timey wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:24:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2306327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kila9Nishika/pseuds/Kila9Nishika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about time is that it isn't a straight line. If you decide to meddle, it isn't just a case of jumping backwards to another point and following the same line forward. Time is less like a line and more like a constantly expanding sphere of water. Changing something causes ripples in all directions, not just one.</p><p>And as the ripples fragment, time will settle in a new path, like a river knocked from its course.</p><p>The Days of Future Past movie was a fragment - one of many.  But the time stream settles in a different place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Three Probabilities Centered Around a Point

**Author's Note:**

> Days of Future Past fic, mostly.

"She's like us!" Wanda whispered to him one day after school, her bright brown eyes nearly crimson-red in her excitement. "She knows things."

Pietro shot a glance at his sister's new friend, curious. The tiny pale redhead was nothing special in their class of thirty-some ten-year-olds, but something in her vibrant green gaze as she smiled sweetly at Wanda made Pietro decide - he'd give the girl a chance.

Wanda clearly adored her new friend -or possibly, simply having a friend that wasn't Pietro. But as Pietro grew closer to Jenny, he discovered that Wanda had been right. Jenny was like them. Different.

And that would make all the difference in the universe.

It happened when they were sixteen - Wanda and Pietro and Jenny, walking home from school, when a car swerved off the street –

Wanda saw it before the others did, saw as the car drew closer to Jenny, closer –

Her mind froze –

She leapt –

Pietro and Jenny screamed –

and –

She was gone.

She was gone.

Pietro couldn't stop screaming.

She was gone.

The worst part was that there was still a something that hummed at the edges of Pietro's mind.

Jenny never stopped screaming.

Her mother took up the screaming where Jenny left off, when Jenny came to breakfast the next morning all of ten years old, her memories of the past six years gone.

The family moved away a week later.

The day after Jenny moved away, a group of strange men showed up - not cops, but looking for Pietro.

The not-cops wanted him to break into the Pentagon!

Days later, frozen in front of the TV set, clutching at Lorna with cold hands, Pietro talked to Wanda in his head.

I broke our dad out of the Pentagon, he imagined saying. I don't think he knows that he's our dad. I didn't tell him.

I broke our dad out of the Pentagon, he imagined saying.  He turned out to be a terrorist.

I miss you.

Wanda...

 

Someone was screaming.

Was he screaming?  
  
The three guys had never come by, and Pietro had run away when he was seventeen because Lorna could levitate silverware and someone saw. Lorna had cried and cried and Pietro hadn't known what to do.

He was almost thirty and pretending to be Lorna's dad when he saw Jenny again. Only, her name wasn't Jenny, and she looked nineteen or something, and she was on TV.

Several people tried to recruit him, but Pietro had Lorna to think about - until he didn't.

He destroyed the robot that killed his sister (was it made of plastic?) and joined the X-Men the next day.

He ran for supplies, taught kids, traded jokes, kept up morale, and destroyed robots.  
Twelve years later, he died, protecting Professor Xavier and (surprise!) Pietro's own father.

Someone was screaming.

Was he screaming?

  
Time...

 

The thing about time is that it isn't a straight line. If you decide to meddle, it isn't just a case of jumping backwards to another point and following the same line forward. Time is less like a line and more like a constantly expanding sphere of water. Changing something causes ripples in all directions, not just one.

 

But no mutant with an affinity for time had ever studied time and temporal physics.

And the worst casualties of ripples are should-have-beens.

Someone was screaming.

Was he screaming?

No. Jenny was screaming. Wanda had pushed her.

She's like us, Wanda said. She knows things.

In that split moment, and Wanda leapt and Jenny screamed and Pietro froze, they all knew things.

Pietro didn't stop to think. He moved.

And they were all three sprawled on the grass, Wanda-Jenny-Pietro, alive. Safe.

 

They were closer after that. Jenny often came over and slept in Wanda's bed after an argument with her mother. Pietro stole little things from shops to make Jenny and Wanda smile. (He especially loved the challenge involved with putting things back. There was something massively amusing about befuddled cops trying to figure out how items disappeared and reappeared.)

Wanda was never far from one or both of them. Once Jenny figured out how to give Wanda and Pietro twin-speak, they were even closer. The telepathy was entirely dependent on Jenny, but Pietro didn't mind. The three of them were already pretty closely intertwined anyway.

Wanda and Jenny were out window-shopping when the three guys came by.

Pietro was in by the time the hobo-dude that Claws called "Professor" called him a kleptomaniac.  
Of course, it was massively awkward to be in the elevator with the dude who might've killed Kennedy when Wanda reached out and tapped in his head.

[Pietro?  What are you doing?]

Pietro winced. [Breaking a really dramatic dude out of prison. I think he might be our dad.]

[You're what?!] Wands shrieked.

[See, this is why we keep you on such a short leash,] Jenny cut in, amused. [We go shopping _once_ and you break into the goddamn Pentagon.]

Pietro smirked as hobo-professor-dude punched dramatic-prisoner-dude. [Seriously, I'll babysit Lorna every day next week for this. This is priceless.]

Wanda groaned in responsible dismay, while Jenny snickered. Pietro took a moment to deal with some cop-dudes with guns. [So, Wanda, is the dude our dad?]

[Let Jenny take a look.]

It felt downright wonderful when they did this, Wanda or Jenny just reaching through and using their abilities with his body. Like being the most un-alone person ever.

After a (really damn long) minute, Jenny pulled back.

[Your dad's name Erik Lehnsherr?  Or Max Eisenhardt?]

Wanda's rush of jubilation left Pietro feeling like that time they had tried alcohol. [Yes!]

[So...]

[So tell him, Pietro!]

Granted, blurting out "I think you're my dad," might be the lamest non sequitur ever, but it sure got dramatic-dude's attention.

Also, "I - what?" was an even lamer response.

"I think," Pietro repeated slowly, "that you, dramatic metal-floating dude, might be my dad. Didja ever know a lady named Magda?"

 

So, yeah, it turned out, the dramatic metal-floating dude was his and Wanda and Lorna's dad. Which was weird, because Pietro couldn't remember the dude, but Lorna had been born and their mom had died nine years ago, now, and they'd been adopted eight years ago, so really, not remembering a dude who took off when Pietro was eight wasn't such a big deal.

 

Three days later, while babysitting Lorna for Wanda (and adopted mom, but really so Wanda and Jenny could go shopping,) Pietro stared as his dad floated a motherfucking _stadium_ to the goddamn _White House lawn_.

Lorna was thrilled. "I can do that!" she cried, grinning. "Ooh, Pietro, can I fly a stadium?"

Gaping as his dad (his dad!) flew through the air and gave a speech about peace and war and how people were heading on the way to being another generation of Nazis, Pietro grabbed his sister. "Ah, I don't recommend it, Lorrie."

Wanda and Jenny were watching through his eyes as their dad ripped a (goddamn ugly) helmet from his head.

"I will not be the one," Erik Lehnsherr proclaimed, "to bring war upon our children. Whatever my thoughts, whatever my beliefs, if you would have another genocide - it will not be begun by me."

Pietro couldn't hold back a startled (but happy) gasp. Wanda echoed him, and Jenny sent a warm flood of happiness, and Lorna (who didn't really understand) clapped and smiled and –

For a moment –

There was a breath of happiness, a moment of sheer relief –

A [thank god oh Erik I'm so happy] that rushed through the minds of every person within 250 miles of Washington DC –

A then, a quiet thought that might have been Wanda but could have been Jenny –

[Maybe things will be alright, now.]

So, as it turned out, having a kleptomaniac speed-freak mutant for a son wasn't too much, and having one daughter who seemed to have magic while the other could levitate silverware wasn't too much, but having a gay daughter was.

Which was how Pietro, Wanda, and Jenny ended up on a train north.

"You're sure that they'll let us in?" Jenny's voice wobbled, a sign of how shaken she was - normally, it took earthquakes to shake her.

"Positive." Pietro vibrated in place. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally damage a train.  
Well. At this speed, anyway.

Jenny stared out the window, absently petting Wanda's hair as she slept. "I'm so sorry, Pietro. This is all my fault. If I hadn't -"

"Hey," Pietro touched Jenny's hand where it rested on Wanda's auburn curls. "It's not your fault. It's no one’s fault but Anya's that she can't deal with two girls loving each other. Besides, soon as we can, I'm gonna send for Lorrie - she's a mutant too. It's only ‘cause we're running away instead of going properly that we didn't take her with us."

Jenny sighed, and rested her head on Pietro's shoulder. "You know it's not just Wanda - I love you, too."

Pietro nodded, wrinkling his nose as Jenny's red hair tickled it. "Yeah, and back atcha. But, well..."

Jenny just sent him a warm pulse of love, her eyes sliding shut. [Wake me a bit/half an hour before our stop?]

[Sure.]

And then Pietro was the only one on their seat still awake.

They arrived at Croton Falls after dark. With clouds obscuring the moon as they stepped out onto the street, Jenny shivered and pulled her cardigan tightly across her shoulders. "Which way?"

Wanda heaved her rucksack over her left shoulder. "Try feeling for it. It shouldn't be far from here, and Charles Xavier is a telepath."

Pietro, busily watching from all sides, sent an absent feeling of assent.

After a long (long _long_ ) moment, Jenny sighed. "I know approximately which way, but it's gonna be a long walk."

Wanda frowned. "Pietro and I will be fine, but -"

"If Jenny gets tired, you know I'll carry her," Pietro interrupted, feeling a bit hurt.

Jenny put her head in her hands. "Pietro, you know that's not what Wanda meant -"

"Heeey," a voice drawled out of the darkness.

Jenny jumped, clutching at Wanda's hand. Pietro turned sharply, quickly enough to damage the pavement.

The speaker was a man (justaguyjustaguy) who swayed drunkenly from side to side as he walked. Pietro braced himself to grab Wanda and Jenny, when Wanda shook her head discreetly.

[The security guard, Pietro.]

As if Pietro wasn't there (or Wanda, for that matter,) the drunk guy swaggered up to Jenny as the petite redhead cringed away.

"Hey, gorgeous," the guy wafted a cloud of alcohol-laden cigarette smoke into Jenny's face. "Y'wanna ditch them fuckers and come wiv me?  You'll like it, I promise."

Jenny tightened her grip on Wanda. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, honey," the drunk said with honeyed tones, "don't talk like that."

"She told you to leave her alone!" Pietro said sharply, carefully enunciating each syllable (slowly). "Shove off!"

The drunk scowled, and aimed a sloppy punch in Pietro's direction - it didn't even take unusual speed to evade. "Leave us alone," he slurred. "You got your own girl, lemme have some -"

THWACK!

Strong emotions made Wanda's eyes glow reddish. Pietro had never seen the glow bright enough to create shadows.

Then again, considering how far Wanda's fist had thrown the drunk, it was highly unlikely that anyone but Pietro had seen the glow.

The security guard snorted, but otherwise didn't react. The three of them took the opportunity to leave before someone else showed up to cause trouble.

Two dark hours later, Jenny was listing vaguely to the right every few feet, while Pietro pretended to jog in place to keep up with Wanda and Jenny's near-sleepwalking.

Wanda walked directly into a stone wall, and stopped, her drooping eyes suddenly wide open. A moment later, lights flooded the street.

"Who's there?"

Towering over them, wearing a scowl and a - was that bathrobe purple?  Standing in the shadows of the slowly-opening gates was none other than Erik Lehnsherr.

Pietro grinned, and reached out and grabbed Jenny as she began listing to the right again. "Hey, dad-dude, there three beds - or couches - we could crash on till tomorrow?  Its kind-of a long way from DC."

Mutely, Erik waved them inside.

They were safe, Pietro realized, curling up on an oversized bed inside the mansion. They were safe. (SafesafeSAFE)

"Pietro?"

Pietro looked up. Wanda and Jenny were in the doorway. "Yeah?"

[Can we...stay with you?] Jenny asked.

Pietro just shuffled over in the bed.

At nine the next morning, Erik tapped on the door. When Pietro didn't answer, Erik looked inside.

Like small children, Wanda, Jenny, and Pietro were curled around each other in the bed that Charles had offered to Pietro.

"Good morning," he said, blinking away thoughts [of how nice it would be to have the whole mansion filled with such peace] and feeling his lips creak into a long-unused smile. "I believe that Hank is currently butchering some pancakes."

Pietro's unusual grey eyes shot open, while lazy green eyes peeked out from under a mop of red hair (and Wanda pretended that she was still asleep).

"G'mornin'," Pietro said.

And for once, it was.


	2. The World of the Future

[I got in!!!!]

Pen paused halfway down marking a student's essay, Jean Grey looked up, and smiled. 

[That's wonderful, Sandy,] she projected, [but not necessarily something that all of Westchester needed to know.]

[Especially those of us who were sleeping,] Pietro grumbled. 

There was a sheepish pause. [Sorry, Aunt Jenny,] Sandy sent quietly. [And, um, sorry Professor.]

Jean couldn't hear Professor Xavier's response, but she could certainly imagine it. After decades of living at the school, she had learned mountains of control from the wheelchair-bound telepath. 

Quickly finishing her last bit of grading for the morning, Jean gathered up her files and headed towards the Professor's office. 

She snorted when she nearly ran into Sandy and her boyfriend, enthusiastically celebrating. 

"I know you're happy," Jean said amusedly, "but there is a reason for bedrooms with doors, Alexandra, John."  She paused. "Also, the two of you are melting the paint off the walls. Literally."

The teens broke apart, Sandy blushing hard enough to clash with her vibrant green hair. 

"Sorry again, Aunt Jenny," Sandy mumbled. John nodded, his cheeks crimson. "It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't," Jean said, smothering a smile. "Please remember that our younger students are under twelve years of age."

Both teens turned even redder, both now staring at their shoes. Jean decided to give them both a break. 

"And congratulations on both getting into MIT."  She walked away, smiling slightly as the teens spluttered at her. 

When she got to Professor Xavier's office, the man was already deep in conversation with their current X-Men field leader. 

"Good morning, Scott," Jean said cheerfully, setting her files down on Professor Xavier's desk. "Congratulations. Sandy got into MIT."

Scott Summers groaned, rubbing the back of his neck in dismay. "Everyone's going to say something, aren't they?"

Jean grinned. "This is her first slip up in four months, Scott. You should be proud."

"What, that we got four months without my daughter shouting in people's heads?  Or that she got into MIT?"

Jean laughed. "Either-or, Scotty."

Scott sighed. "Aaaand I was hoping that we could go a whole conversation without you calling me that. Can we just talk about X-Men?"

"That would be nice," Professor Xavier cut in, smiling faintly at two of his favorite students. "I believe we were discussing what we could improve about our measures in the case of a wider-spread disaster than last week's hurricane?"

"I'll be leaving, then," Jean said, turning towards the door. [Professor, where is Dr. Lehnsherr?]

[Erik is in his office, Jean. Do remind him that he has a class at one?]

[Sure.]

Almost out of the room, Jean nearly smacked into Logan. 

"Hi, Logan," she said cheerfully. 

Logan stared as if he had seen a ghost. 

"Excuse me?" Scott cut in, sounding faintly upset as he pushed Logan aside. Jean squinted. [Wanda, are you possessing Scott to warn off Logan?]

[Maaaaaybe.]

[Wanda!]

[Okay, I'll stop.]

Scott stumbled slightly, and scowled. "Dammit, I hate it when you do that, Wanda."

Jean shook her head. "I suppose we're lucky it was just Wanda."

"True," Scott replied ruefully. "So, where are you off to?"

"I need to ask Dr. Lehnsherr about a few things. You?"

Scott shrugged. "Back to our rooms to help Lorna. We're pretty sure that this kid's a kinetic."

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Scott grinned. "Unless Lorna spontaneously developed pregnancy powers. But…don't tell her I said that, okay?"

"I won't," Jean laughed, turning a corner. "Well, I'll see you at lunch."

Scott waved absently, and Jean headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. 

Neatly avoiding two running teenagers, Jean called, "No running indoors, Cassidy, Amanda!"

The girls skidded to a stop. 

"But Ms. Grey -"

"She started it -"

"She said -"

"I don't really care who started it," Jean said firmly. "You could hurt someone, running indoors. Take your arguments somewhere safer than a school hallway."

"Yes, Ms. Grey," the girls chorused. 

Satisfied that she had prevented another third-floor-kid-crash, Jean moved on. 

(In the '90s, Pietro had smacked into another speedster while heading up the stairs to the third floor. The resulting disaster had sent fifteen people to the floor, six down the stairs, and had utterly demolished a door and half of a wall. It had taken hours to coax one of their younger students off of the ceiling.)

"Dr. Lehnsherr?" Jean tapped on his office door. 

The door swung open. "How many times have I told you to call me Erik, Jean?"

Jean took a seat. "About as many times as we've asked Pietro to stop getting in pickpocket contests with Rémy.  But the Professor also asks me to call him by his name, and you don't see me doing that either. It's just too...weird."

Dr. Lehnsherr shook his head. [One doctorate in Engineering and suddenly the world calls you Doctor,] he thought (loudly) resignedly. 

Jean coughed. "I wanted to know when Carl Aalston will be back in class. Should I start sending packets to Ororo, to keep him on level with his classmates?"

"That might be a good idea," Erik said tiredly. "The drought in California shows no signs of abating, and between that and the once-a-month trips to Africa and the Near East, Carl and Ororo may be gone for quite some time."

Jean nodded. "Will anyone else be out of class, this week?"

Dr. Lehnsherr turned his computer screen, and pulled up the spreadsheet. 

"Rogue needs a substitute for Intermediate Meditation, she and Kate are heading out to check out some rumors about a new Weapon X program."

"Will they never learn?" Jean asked furiously. In the late eighties, Logan had been snatched on a routine house-check for one of their day students. It had taken them two years to find him, and another ten years to coax most of his memories back. "Weapon X," as the program had been called, had been flattened by the combined human-mutant response to its atrocities. 

"Unfortunately, insanity and evil persist," Dr. Lehnsherr said drily. "Jason Stryker is in DC for the week, and Leah Walker is down in the City for her surgery for the next five days.  Anything else?"

"No, that's all," Jean said, standing. "Oh -but the Professor wanted me to remind you about your class at one."

"Miss it _one_ time..." Dr. Lehnsherr shook his head.  "The only other thing - the three of you should stay on standby, because we've had some serious earthquake predictions in Japan."

"Got it."  Jean stood. "Will you and the Professor be making an appearance at dinner?  If so, I'll see you then."

"Hopefully, we should make it to dinner," Dr. Lehnsherr said. "Have a productive day, Jean."

"You too," Jean said, shutting the door as she left. Turning inwards, she reached for Wanda and Pietro. 

[Wanda?  Pietro?  We're on official standby. Earthquake watch in Japan.]

[Gotcha,] Wanda replied over Pietro's [I was sleeping!]. [You still up for Danger Room at three?  I got Bobby and Kate to agree, along with Sandy and John. Logan is out today, so Mystique needs a new partner, but otherwise, we're golden for the three to four slot.]

Jean walked slowly down the hall as children and teens dashed for their classrooms. [Did you ask Alex?  Also, if you're in the mood to beat up some of the other younger generation, Amanda Summers and Cassidy Xavier seem to have plenty of energy.]

[You'll see Alex before me,] Wanda said. [So you could ask him if he wants to be Mystique's partner. As for Amanda and Cassidy, you know that Mystique won't melee with her daughter.]

Jean shrugged. [True. Oh -could you substitute for Rogue's Intermediate Meditation class?  I'm teaching US History then, but Rogue and Kate are heading out tomorrow.]

[Sure,] Wanda said. [See you at lunch?]

[See you at lunch,] Jean agreed. Refocusing on the outside world, she entered the Civil Rights History classroom. "Alex?"

With a slight smile that greatly increased the facial similarities between Alex and Scott Summers, Alex waved her over to the board. 

Jean flicked a glance around the room that would make Pietro proud - super-fast, but efficient. 

Pictures papered the walls. Martin Luther King, Jr., of course, Rosa Parks, and many others were hung in places of honor. In the center of the whiteboard hung the expanded front page of the New York Times, dated March 16, 2009.

The photo was simple - Professor Xavier and Dr. Lehnsherr, both looking incredibly dignified, and the President of the United States. The headline was similarly simple:

**LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.**

And arrow made from paper pointed from the news page to an ever-growing bulletin board, which was covered in photos. 

**MARCH 15, 2009** , the board read. **WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE BILL PASSED?**

Some of the faces on the board, Jean might never know. Children and adults alike from all over the USA continued to send photos of that moment. But every time she entered this classroom, her eyes caught on the picture snapped by a press photographer outside the courtroom.   Her photo. 

A photo of Jean, happy tears streaming down her face, as she flung herself into a three-way embrace with Wanda and Pietro. 

The world had come a long way from 1973.  This...this was the world of the future. 


	3. Liberty and Justice for All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the news article mentioned at the end of the previous chapter.

**LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL** by Ann O. Nymous

_16 March 2009_

  
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Every day, innumerable children and adults recite this phrase. But is it true?

Having stood on the White House lawn on this day, I can truthfully say that now, it is.

It takes a lot to make a reporter lose her words. But I absolutely cannot find the words to describe how I felt, watching Erik Lehnscherr, PhD, shake hands with the President of the United States, while Charles Xavier, PhD, sat inches away in his futuristic wheelchair.

Lehnscherr and Xavier have seen a lot of injustice. Lehnscherr survived the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews, and Xavier was expelled from four schools for his personal beliefs before achieving his Doctorate. Lehnscherr and Xavier both helped end the Cuban Missile Crisis, all the while fighting a man who really can be described as a megalomaniac. Lehnscherr spent ten years in the highest security prison in history, for a crime that he tried to _prevent_. Charles Xavier personally lived through the torture and murder carried out by the now-defunct Sentinel Project. Both men stand high in the history of civil rights.

And now, they have begun a new era.

Until the Equal Justice Bill began to rise, I had never knowingly met a mutant.

I can't help but imagine - how strange will our children think that?

I met two of the lead campaigners for the Equal Justice Bill at one of the first press conferences that focused on the subject.

In my article about the Bill back in 2006, I quoted Ms. Jean Grey (then 50,) on the subject:

"It's terrible, because most of us have a minimum of about six years of utter normality, and then - we're somehow different.  I was lucky."

She then went on to explain that many children, shocked and frightened by these sudden abilities, often ended up traumatized and ostracized. In comparison, she had had the luck to join an elementary school class with two other mutants - one of whom was the other leader at the conference, a Ms. Wanda Maximoff.

Ms. Maximoff and her twin brother (who was unavailable at the time to comment) are also mutants, although neither of their abilities have been made public. At the time Ms. Grey had described asking for someone's precise mutant abilities as being similar to asking a married couple how many times they had sex a week.

"Obviously, the answer for some is a lot, and the answer for others is not so much, but unless you're their doctor, you don't ask."

A relatively straightforward woman, Ms. Grey got a degree in education at NYU, and then promptly returned to her high school to teach. (For more about Xavier's School for the Gifted, see page 4.)

Today, I saw that sensible woman throw her shoes in the air, burst into tears, and hug every person within reach.

Then again, that was the reaction of most of the Xavier-Lehnscherr party. Other notable reactions include:

         Wanda Maximoff doing a ballerina twirl fifteen feet into the air.   
         Pietro Maximoff literally cutting a rug with his sharp leap off a chair.   
         Surprise snowfall with a clear sky.   
         Several teenaged girls (names undisclosed) screaming with joy.   
         Three young men literally taking flight.   
         Two exploding folding chairs.   
         And numerous seriously romantic fairy-tale kisses.

A young woman named Katherine Pryde managed to talk past her tears long enough to attempt to explain some of the emotion.

"It's like this, you see, lots of us got jailed for no reason, as kids, just cuz we're different. And, and some of us have been in really bad stuff - think like what Trask did with the Sentinels, or Mengele with the Jews and Gypsies. T-torture. And they'd always get away with it, because we weren't people. We were just different. Animals, even. But now - now we're - we're real. We're free!"

At this point, I must admit that I turned off my recorder and stopped taking notes. I had gotten a bit too emotional to work.

So now what?  It's a completely different America, for some of us, and maybe we've finally pulled away from the unfortunate hypocrisy of the verse back in 1892 (or even in 1954, the time of the last edit).

Today, the combined efforts of all of the humans of America created "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."


End file.
